4th of July Activities, Science-U News, and Mini Camps at Penn State's Arboretum
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July 2021
Hello from the Office of Science Outreach! We hope your summer is going well! Keep scrolling to see what fun science we included in this month's newsletter!
- 4th of July Fireworks Activities
- Summer Night Skies
- Science-U Virtual Camps
- Partnership with the WPSU Virtual Summer Camp
- Children's Mini Camps at the Arboretum
Have a safe and happy July! ~The Science-U Team
Happy 4th of July!
Many celebrations of Independence Day include fireworks. For folks who don't like the accompanying noise of the fireworks' explosions, here is a safe and innovative way to watch a colorful display that resembles fireworks! The YouTube video below shows how your family can make "Fireworks in a Jar" using a glass jar, some water, oil, and food coloring! Can you hypothesize the science behind this activity?
Here is also a coloring page from Education.com that can be downloaded. It teaches youngsters that fireworks are made from different elements and minerals! These chemical compounds produce different colors when they burn. What's your favorite color to see in the night sky?
Summer Night Skies
Speaking of night skies, the summer is a fantastic season for sky searching. Click the link below to go to a website about looking for stars and planets in the summer skies and dates for special observances!
What's new at Science-U?
Virtual camps are going well this summer! Below is a summary of our initial camps. Over the next few weeks, we're looking forward to meeting even more campers!
High school students attended our Gravitational Waves and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics camp the first week and met over Zoom with about 20 scientists from the Penn State LIGO research team! They also got to work with the same computational techniques that the researchers use to detect phenomena such as black holes, neutron stars, and star collisions.
Our Designing the Future Club is off to a great start too! In their second week, campers are enthusiastically working on challenges related to physics, computer-aided design, and 3-D printing. Topics covered in the first week included calculating speed and manufacturing various objects just like a 3-D printer would. Several of these campers, who are entering grades 5 or 6, shared photos of their creations!
This past week middle school campers in the virtual Finding Your Roots camp explored their genealogy with DNA test results from Ancestry.com and by interviewing family members. In addition they explored the DNA molecule by creating models and extracting strawberry DNA at home using household ingredients like dish detergent and salt!
WPSU Virtual Summer Camp
The Office of Science Outreach is continuing to partner with WPSU at their Virtual Summer Camp! This free, online program encourages families to go on exciting adventures around the world - and expeditions right outside their doors! Videos and activities from the previous weeks are available for viewing by clicking the button below. Be sure to take a look at the STEM Thursdays to see interviews with scientists from Eberly College of Science, as well as fun science activities that you can try at home! The WPSU Virtual Summer Camp goes until August 6th, so it's not to late to register for weekly updates!
Arboretum Mini Camps
The Arboretum at Penn State is hosting two different mini camps for school age children this summer! Both in-person programs will be held outside in the Children's Garden of the arboretum. There is no cost for children to attend, but registration is required. See below for more details and links to register.
Pollinator Investigators Mini Camp
Children entering grades 6, 7, and 8 are invited to come and learn about the importance of pollinators in the natural environment! This program will be held for two mornings (Wed. and Thurs.) on July 14 & 15 or July 21& 22 from 9:00 am until noon. Click the link below for more information and to register.
Digging Deeper: The Story of Soil Mini Camp
Children entering grades 3, 4, and 5 are invited to come learn how soil is formed and why healthy soil is important to natural ecosystems and human populations. This mini camp is offered Saturdays, July 17 or August 14, from 9:00 am until noon. See the link below for more information and registration.
Meet our team!
Our Office of Science Outreach staff members are happy to assist you with any questions related to Science Outreach. Bookmark our website at https://science.psu.edu/outreach for more information or email us at outreach@science.psu.edu.
We'd love to hear from you!
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